


Dear Extraterrestrial

by sign_my_voltron_jpeg



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Allura and Lance are Siblings, Altean Lance (Voltron), Alternate Universe, Fluff and Angst, M/M, broganes, keith is an emo nerd obsessed with aliens and projects his emotions into the void of space, messaging
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-09-02
Updated: 2017-09-02
Packaged: 2018-12-22 18:22:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,580
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11973057
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sign_my_voltron_jpeg/pseuds/sign_my_voltron_jpeg
Summary: Keith has been suffering ever since his mother died, and bottling up his emotions isn't helping him one bit. There's no way that he would ever agree to talking it out with anyone, which is why his genius friends constructed a messaging machine to send his feelings into the depths of space. And who knows, he might just find a cute alien as a result.





	1. Letters to the Void

**Author's Note:**

> i have absolutely no idea what i'm doing here oops

_Dear extraterrestrials,_  
_Earth sucks. Honestly, it's not worth your time. You probably already know that. It's unlikely to assume that anyone will receive this message, or that you'll even be able to read it, but this is just for me. My friend built me this thing so I can write out all of my emotions and send them out into the depths of space. Actually, it's not a bad idea. Humans are hard to confide in, so why not send this to aliens?_  
I know you're out there. Anyway, my mom died of cancer a year ago today. Same day as my birthday. It screwed me up pretty bad. My dad left us when I was young, so now my older brother is the only family I have left. He’s trying so hard to help me, but I just don’t think I can feel okay again.  
Earth just likes to shit on my life. It’s a shitty place, with incurable diseases that affect the few good humans in existence, while other humans are disgusting enough creatures to just abandon their families. So I guess this is a warning, to those of you who may not already know; beware of Earth: it will only bring you disappointment, pain and suffering.  
_Sincerely, a pitiful human,_  
_Keith Kogane_

Keith buried his head in his hands after pushing the send button. It was oddly relieving to shoot off his emotions into space.

His friends were the best, honestly. They had been so worried about him on his first birthday without his mom that they’d built this machine. The Holts were geniuses, sure, but this--sending messages into space--was a whole new level. He remembered how careful they had been around him earlier that day, the low voices outside his bedroom door, which he’d immediately recognized as Matt Holt--Pidge’s older sibling--talking to Shiro, his own half-brother. Keith knew they had to be talking about him, based on the somber tones the two discussed in.

There was a soft knock at his door.

“Keith?” it was Pidge, her hesitant voice clouded in worry. “can I come in?”

Keith considered his options. He looked terrible, hair even messier than usual, eyes bloodshot and puffy, but Pidge had seen him even worse. He quickly decided maybe he should at least put some pants on. 

“Yeah, come in.” Keith grumbled, pulling on a pair of grey sweatpants.

Pidge entered from behind the large wrapped package she was struggling to hold.

Keith flared up with anger. He'd told them not to treat today like his birthday--there was nothing to celebrate about today.

“Before you get mad,” Pidge hastily said, despite the look on Keith's face clearly displaying she was too late, “let me explain.”

“I thought I made myself very clear that no one should be celebrating today.” Keith growled, fists clenched at his sides.

“Believe me, you did,” Pidge winced from Keith's venomous words, “but you have to consider your own health, Keith. Locking yourself away like this isn't going to make things better.”

“Oh, so this is an intervention?”

“No, I know you don't want to talk, which is why I got you this.” Pidge plopped the large gift gently down on Keith's bed.

“What the hell?”

“Just open it. I told you I would explain.”

Keith tore a corner of the red wrapping paper, then ripped the rest away violently until there was no paper left on the object. Honestly, Pidge could have gave it to him unwrapped, and he would still have no clue what it is. It was a machine of some sort, not factory-made, and it had a certain home-made quality present with the work of Pidge and Matt. It looked complex, complete with a screen and keyboard, like a computer, but otherwise looked completely foreign.

“What… is it?” Keith stared at the object in confusion and awe.

“It's your way of expressing how you feel.” 

“Poetic,” Keith deadpanned, “but seriously, what the hell?”

“Matt and I built it so you can send messages to space. No people, just the black void.”

Keith didn’t know how to respond. His friends were geniuses, no doubt about that, but this was crazy.

“And it works?”

“Pretty sure. Not sure where else the messages would be sending. They’re sent out to a duplicate machine, one Matt launched into space for one of his classes. He got so many awards and he won’t shut up about it.”

“And you want me to share my feelings out to space? Like that’ll get rid of them?” Keith smirked, shaking his head.

“It might help.” Pidge shrugged “Use it how you want, dude. It’s yours now, want it or not.”

Keith paused, collecting his words.

“Thank you, Pidge. Thank Matt too. Even if I told you not to get me anything.” Keith said finally.

“Shiro helped too, with the expenses and stuff. Anyway, I’m sure you don’t want company anymore, so I’ll get going.” 

She handed him a packet of printer paper. “This is the instruction manual.”

She gave a small wave before opening the door. “Have fun talking to aliens!”

She shut the door, leaving Keith alone in his small, rather cluttered room again. But something definitely had changed. His gift laid next to him on the bed, taking up almost as much space as he did. After a few moments of wary indecision, Keith picked up the instruction manual and began to read.

***

Keith had never expected a response. Of course he believed in extraterrestrial beings, but the odds that one would find his message in all the vastness of space, and be able to actually read it seemed near impossible.

But only two days after he sent out the message, there it was. It was late at night on a Sunday, and all Keith wanted was to go to sleep, but his body wouldn’t let him. In the midst of a desperate fit of tossing and turning, there came a sound from the machine that he’d stacked on top of the desk shoved in the corner. It sounded like the text tone of an off-brand phone.  
Keith shot up to see the screen on the machine flashed on. Giving up on sleep anyway, he threw off the blankets and got out of bed to investigate. It was just like any other messaging machine, Keith had learned from the instruction manual. But the display that read _“1 new message”_ seemed so odd on a machine like this. 

It’s probably just Pidge or Matt playing a prank on me. Keith reassured himself. Those fuckers. It occurred to Keith before that the whole thing could likely be an elaborate lie, that the other machine was most probably sitting somewhere in the Holt’s house, not launched into space. But he didn’t think they’d do that to him. He trusted them. They were his best friends. His only friends. The thought that they could have made this to get an insight on his private thoughts made his stomach churn.

But then again, _aliens do exist, right?_ Keith laughed at that thought. Of course, but the odds were far too slim that one would find the other machine, and be able to respond. Keith knew the odds, but his heart was still racing as he typed in his password. The screen opened and he hovered his cursor over the messages icon. Why was he nervous? 

He had no reason to be nervous, he convinced himself, so he clicked the message. His eyes flitted over the words in disbelief. Keith was never a skeptic--quite the opposite in all situations, really. But that something this, well, otherworldly could happen to him of all people? He was nothing special. So why would he receive something that was? But there it was, blaring at him on the illuminated screen.

_Dear Keith Kogane,_

_I have received your other messaging device. I’m terribly sorry about what happened with your mother. That’s quiznacking awful. I know you may think that Earth sucks now, but I can assure you that though it may be cruel at times, you would hate it even more having to live without it. I come from a planet called Altea, and I wasn’t ever its biggest fan--not like my sister, anyway._

_There, I was a prince with demanding responsibilities and expectations to be perfect, constantly under the public eye. I always had to act like nothing was wrong, even when everything was. My mother died as well, a long time ago. She died fighting our planet’s sworn enemy. An honorable death, but devastating nonetheless. I blamed everything I could, including my planet. I regret this looking back now. Fairly soon after, our enemies, the Galra, made an attack on our planet. They completely destroyed it along with every Altean that stayed. My stepfather, sister, and I were the only ones that made it out alive, our bodies frozen, set to wake up about 10,000 Earth years later. Unfortunately, peace was never attained, and the war is still waging more than ever._

_We now travel the far reaches of space, salvaging all that we can from the Galra. The planet I had convinced myself I hated, I would now give anything to get back. You may be hating Earth now, I get that, but try to think about all it still has to offer. I haven’t visited Earth firsthand, but I can tell you that I have done extensive research on your planet and I am fascinated with your people. I’m impressed with the technology used on this messenger (and it appears to not be government property.) Humans may be more advanced than I believed them to be. It may not mean much, but I can tell you that I believe your planet does not suck, and maybe, just maybe, you can appreciate something it has to offer._

_I wish you well, Keith. I would enjoy further messaging you in the future. I’ve been working on the machine with a friend of mine, and we’ve been able to boost the connection enough so that I can message you at any part of space I may be at. I understand if you don’t want to message back, though. I hope that this message doesn’t offend you in any way, I just thought maybe I could try and be there for you, you know? Like, your personal space buddy or something. It’s totally cool though if you don’t want that. I hope things go better for you, man. I really do._

_Sincerely,_

_Prince Lance of Altea_

With shaking hands, Keith hit the power button on the machine which promptly turned of the machine with a few faint beeping and whirring noises. Still in shock, Keith made his way over to his bed and plopped down head first. What an elaborate backstory for a fucking hoax. Keith wanted to scream. He wondered how the Holts could do that to him. Trick him into spilling all his inner thoughts and emotions by pretending to be some alien prince with a tragic past? No way in hell would he fall for that. When he got to school tomorrow, he was going to give them a piece of his mind.

Keith was exhausted. There were so many thoughts that flitted around in his head, but eventually the increasingly heavy curtains of sleep would prevail. Surprisingly, although his thoughts were angry, his dreams were pleasant. 

When he woke up the next morning, Keith did his best to deny to himself the fact that his dreams were filled with a handsome alien prince that had swept him off his feet to go explore the galaxy together.


	2. Aliens.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank you so much for all of your kind comments! this is my first fic I've posted anywhere, so it's always so encouraging to hear
> 
> *there is a scene that involves nightmares and witnessing death, discretion is advised if that bothers you*

Keith found Pidge exactly where she always was before classes started. She was tucked away in the corner of the hallway, slumped over, her face illuminated by the glow radiating off of her phone.

“Katie Holt!” Keith growled, heading toward her with an aura of aggressiveness that made everyone else in the hallway steer clear.

Pidge froze, not sure of what action to take and with no clear path of escape. Instead, she winced as she turned off her phone. 

“Hey, Keith,” she feigned confidence. “Using my real name, huh? I must have really done something…” her voice faded as her eyes met Keith’s unyielding glare.

“Yeah. You did.”

“Was it because I posted that one picture of you on Instagram? I’m sorry, but it was so funny I couldn’t―”

Keith cut her off. “I know you have the other machine.”

“What are you talking about?” Pidge looked genuinely confused, but Keith wasn’t buying it.

“You never sent the other messenger into space. You have it, and you’re using it to try and get me to spill out my feelings or whatever.”

Pidge tried to speak up, but was cut off again

“Making a fake alien persona to try and get me to open up to? That is a whole new fucking low.”

“Okay, what the actual hell are you talking about?” Pidge hissed. “Matt did send the other one into space. I was there. The Garrison University website has a whole page about it, which I got way less credit for than I should have gotten, by the way. Now I don’t know what this ‘alien persona’ you’re talking about is, but I can assure you that it’s not me. I wouldn’t ever try to violate your privacy, Keith.”

Keith was still standing, his menacing shadow casting over Pidge’s small sitting form, but his face had softened a bit. “Matt could have made another machine, that’s at your house.”

“No way, we barely had enough money to pay for the two we have―do you know how expensive those parts are?” Pidge gave him a sly grin. “Besides, Matt couldn’t make one without my help.”

Keith knew she was right. They were struggling to pay for just the two that they made, even asking Shiro for help, something they wouldn’t do unless they were desperate. The proof that Matt launched it into space was on the Garrison website. But that created a whole new problem: _who the hell was Prince Lance of Altea?_

Keith didn’t realise he was daydreaming until Pidge’s voice broke him out of his thoughts. “What happened with the machine, Keith?”

Students had begun flooding the hallway more and more, and sure enough the bell rung soon after.

“Come over after school,” Keith told Pidge before they parted ways. “And I’ll show you.”

***

“Holy shit,” Pidge breathed, in pure awe after she’d finished reading the message Keith received the past night. “I knew that being co-founders of the Ancient Alien Theorist Club would pay off eventually, but shit, man, this is better than just your average abduction!”

“It just seems too good to be true, you know?” Keith didn’t want to get his hopes up. He wanted to believe everything said in the letter, but whenever he expected anything good in the past, he’s always been let down.

“We need to find out more!” Pidge flailed around excitedly, almost knocking her off of the stool she’d pulled up to Keith’s desk. “Wait, let me change his contact name.” Pidge jumped in front of Keith, who was sitting on the chair in front of the machine, and tampered with the keyboard.

Keith observed her changes to the screen. The name had been changed from “Rover 2.0” to “Prince Lance <333”.

“Okay, the hearts aren’t necessary, Pidge.”

“Oh, c’mon, in third grade you told me that you would only ever date an alien. This is your chance, Keith. Opportunities like this don’t come everyday, you know.”

Keith scoffed. “I only said that because I never had a crush on any girls, and I didn’t quite understand what ‘gay’ was yet.”

“You would totally still date a hot alien, dude.”

“We don’t even know if he’s hot!”

“But _you_ would, though.”

Keith just rolled his eyes and repeated the actions Pidge had made on the machine to change the contact name, changing it to just “Lance” and saving.

“The guy could literally be, like, a blob of space goo.” 

“We should find out!” Pidge perked up “You know, we did install a webcam. No guarantee that it’ll work out wherever he is, but we could actually learn what he looks like.”

Keith pondered the idea. He’d only ever messaged the alien prince once, asking for pictures seemed like a bad idea. There was no telling what this guy could look like. He wasn’t sure why, but Keith wasn’t ready to take that step yet.

“Shouldn’t we try messaging him a bit more first?” Keith questioned.

“Yeah, I guess.” 

Keith hovered his hands over the keyboard, unsure of what to say. He wasn't exactly familiar talking with humans, let alone supposed alien princes.

“Ugh, just write something already, you cube!” 

“Okay, okay!” Keith began typing, though he hadn’t really thought out what he wanted to say yet.

 **Keith:** Hey so it’s Keith again. Thank you for your message, it really helped. I would like to get to know you, if that's okay.

Keith clicked the send button with a shrug. Before he could respond, Pidge jumped in front of him, pressing a few keys and sending.

 **Keith:** ;)

Pidge cackled at the shocked expression on Keith's face. 

“Really, Pidge?” 

She just laughed more in response.

“They could have totally different expressions than us, a wink could be offensive. You could have just started an intergalactic war.”

“You've been watching too much Star Trek.” Pidge smirked, proud of herself, “winking is the universal sign of flirting, I'm sure of it.”

Keith groaned, but his argument was interrupted by the machine beeping, and their eyes were drawn to the screen, where the mysterious alien was now spamming their inbox.

 **Lance:** Awesome! I'd like to get to know you too!

 **Lance:** Am I using the word “awesome” correctly? I've been studying American slang lately, you guys are so strange lol

 **Lance:** But like no offense, we have some weird phrases too

 **Lance:** Wait what does ;) mean? I don't remember 

Pidge toppled over onto the bed with laughter. Keith couldn't help but laugh a bit too, it was beyond amusing. He never thought that when he met an alien, he'd be studying American slang, saying things like “awesome” and “lol”, but he couldn't say he was disappointed.

 **Keith:** ignore the ;) I didn't mean to send that

Pidge screeched in defeat.

“You take that back, scrub, you did too mean to send that!”

“That was you who sent it!”

“Yeah, I was helping you out, bud.”

There was another beep from the machine.

 **Lance:** So I got access to your so called “internet”. I have to thank you for sending out a piece of your technology, it’s really helped us learn more about your culture, but one very important question I have to ask is what are memes? I don’t quite understand them.

The message had both Pidge and Keith toppling over with laughter now. 

“How do I even explain that to him?” Keith wiped a tear from his eye, still laughing.

“Lemme do it.” Once again Pidge lunged for the keyboard.

 **Keith:** One cannot simply explain a meme. They go without explanation, often without context, and only those on a higher level of existence can truly understand.

Keith rolled his eyes. “You’re going to confuse him.”

Pidge shrugged. “It’s all true though.”

 **Lance:** Oh. I guess that’s a bit advanced for what I’m studying now. 

**Lance:** Do you have a cat? Earth cats are so cute!

“Well, shit, Keith, I guess he really is your dream man.” This comment earned Pidge a smack to the face by a pillow.

Keith totally wasn’t blushing. Not at all. There would be no reason that a supposed “alien” who likes cats (who he hasn’t even seen) would make him blush. Other than maybe the fact that he’s dreamed up fantasies like this his whole life. 

Pidge recovered from the blow quickly. “You’re lucky you didn’t break my glasses.”

“You’re lucky I didn’t break your face.”

Pidge adjusted her glasses, giving Keith a swift kick to the thigh. Keith didn’t even move in his office chair, but mumbled an unenthusiastic “ow.”

“You should send him a picture of Phaser,” Pidge suggested. “It would be a perfect opportunity to test the webcam.”

Keith directed his attention to the small orange tabby that had somehow managed to sleep through all of their ruckus on top of a bookshelf. She seemed to have woken up at the mention of her name. 

A picture of Keith’s cat wouldn’t hurt, would it? There was no guarantee it would even work, anyway.

Keith got up and scooped the small cat from her resting place. Phaser let out a meow in protest, but was overall too lazy to try and escape her owner’s hold. 

“Alright, let’s take a cat picture.”

“Nice!” Pidge seemed overly excited to try out the camera feature. She fiddled a bit with the machine, while Keith tried to get Phaser to cooperate with him as he sat back down in the office chair.

Instead, the small cat rebelled and decided to paw at the ends of his slightly-too-long hair. Without him noticing, Pidge managed to snap a picture of the act. 

“Hey!” Keith exclaimed, noticing the screen now displayed the candid picture of half of his annoyed face glaring at the troublemaker cat with her paws tangled in his hair.

“It’s perfect!” Pidge pressed send, much to Keith’s distress.

 **Keith:** _[image sent]_

In return, Keith pushed her stool farther away from the desk with his foot, out of reach of the “send” button. He groaned in embarrassment, because he obviously didn’t approve of how he looked in the picture.

“What? I thought it was cute.” Pidge offered. “Perfect Grindr profile pic.”

Keith was annoyed, but he couldn’t help the laugh that bubbled up inside of him.

It didn’t take long for Lance to respond.

 **Lance:** So cute!!!

 **Lance:** So is your cat ;)

“I told you!” Pidge shrieked, slapping a very red-in-the-face Keith on the shoulder. “I can’t believe it worked!”

 **Lance:** However isn’t your hair a bit outdated? I’ve been researching Earth fashions throughout the decades and no offense you look like you’re from the 1980’s

“I really am starting like this guy,” Pidge stated through sputtered laughter.

 **Lance:** Business in the front, party in the back, what’s it called??

A mullet. A space alien was accusing him of having a mullet. Keith craved death as he knew Pidge’s teasing would never cease.

 **Keith:** I do not have a mullet.

 **Lance:** That’s what it’s called!! 

**Lance:** And yeah, you kind of do

 **Lance:** Don’t worry, you pull it off though ;))))

“Apparently he knows what a winking face is now. And he’s already using it for flirting, what a player,” Pidge cackled.

“Isn’t it about time for you to head home?” Keith grunted, shifting to look at the clock, disturbing a finally-settled Phaser in his lap.

“Noooooo!” Pidge groaned. “This is serious research! I don’t want to have peas for dinner again!”

“You know your mom will kill both of us if you aren’t home for dinner on time.”

“Alright, alright.” Pidge unwillingly got up and headed for the door. “Have fun talking to your alien boyfriend!”

With a lovely obscene hand gesture, Pidge vacated the room. Keith was left without a nuisance as he continued to talk to the “alien.”

 

***

Keith had spent the rest of the afternoon talking to Lance. It was mostly Lance asking off questions about Earth and its culture, and Keith trying to answer to the best of his abilities. It was odd, yet enjoyable. Lance made him forget about the past for a bit. He was a distraction he could use more of, and hoped to still have in the future.

It had been hours since Pidge left, and hours since Keith said goodnight to Shiro and went to bed. This night’s dreams were far different from that of the night before. This was a dream Keith recognized, and dreaded every night before he fell asleep. 

*** 

Keith was forced to sit in the hallway, Shiro had left him to pick up dinner. He would be back soon, but being left alone for even a moment, to have to hear the hushed whispers behind the hospital room’s door, was worse than torture.

He would be back soon. But it wasn’t soon enough. The sound that came from behind the door was blood curdling. A woman’s scream. Unmistakably that of his mother, in pain, and crying out what clearly was his name. She wouldn’t stop.

 _“Keith!”_ she wailed _“Keith! I need to tell you--”_ she broke into a fit of nasty coughs.

Cancer, his ass. Keith knew that things were being hidden from him. Maybe she was going to tell him the truth. He desperately needed to get in there. It was against the doctors’ instructions, but he couldn’t stand to just sit there.

He leapt up out of his seat and tried to pull the door handle. Locked. Despite knowing the door wouldn’t budge, Keith tried again and again to open it, with tears welling up in his eyes. Peering through the small window in the door he could see her. She didn’t look like the mother he knew. She was sickly and pale, her skin gaining an odd, purple, bruise-like tint. She was using all of her energy to call out to him, while doctors swarmed around her frantically, trying to stop her. 

_“Keith! Go to the--”_ he couldn’t make out her words, obstructed by those awful coughs. _“Things will make more sense, Keith, you have to--”_

The doctors seemed to have grown more frantic, they called foreign orders that blurred out in Keith’s mind. All that mattered was his mom.

He needed to get in there. 

Louder than ever, his mother cried out with the last of her energy.

_“Keith!”_

And that’s when his whole world came crashing down as he saw the person he loved so much, the person that loved him so much, die. 

He wanted nothing more than to run. To get away from this sick, sick world. But Keith found himself unable to move, the world physically spiralling around him. His gaze was pulled up by a force that was not his own, back to the window. 

He was unable to scream, but Keith was nothing short of terrified as he saw the doctors. They were no longer human, but tall, menacing, purple creatures with glowing yellow eyes, all staring at him. 

His mother, her limp body lying on the hospital bed, had changed as well.

***

Keith jolted up out of his bed. He was breathing heavily, and couldn’t stop.

Once able to gather himself enough to think, Keith knew going to sleep was an unlikely option. An option he wasn’t even sure he wanted to try. The thought of having to endure the dream again was enough to keep him awake for as long as his body would let him. 

It was always too real. Some of it actually was real, but the dream always had changed the ending, making it all the more terrifying. Keith needed a distraction.

Still shaking, Keith abandoned his bed for the best distraction he could come up with: Lance. Groggily, Keith sat at the desk and turned on the machine.

 **Keith:** you said you would to be there for me, right? someone to talk to when I’m having problems?

Keith buried his face in his hands, exhaling a shaky breath. He was seeking help in the form of someone who claimed to be an alien prince. A new low, considering he had no idea who this guy actually was. Although even in the short time Keith had spent talking to him, he knew he made him feel different than normal: excited, curious, and closer to happy than he’d been in a year.

The machine alerted him of a response.

 **Lance:** Of course.

 **Lance:** Are you okay?

Keith found himself feeling slightly better already, even though it was absurd. This guy-- Lance--apparently cared. 

**Keith: no, not really**

**Lance:** Do you want to talk about it?

Did he? Talking about it now could result in several ways, but it was a risk. It could make things so much worse.

 **Keith:** it was nothing, just a bad dream. I don’t think i can go back to sleep

 **Lance:** Need something to get your mind off it until you get tired again?

Yes. That was exactly what he needed.

 **Lance:** _[image sent]_

It took Keith more than a moment to process the picture he was viewing. After more than a moment, he still couldn’t process. The boy on his screen was beautiful, even despite the silly expression he was displaying. Dark skin clashed harmoniously with the stark white of his short hair, he had blue markings of some sort under his eyes and... were those pointed ears?

“Holy shit,” Keith spoke to the otherwise-empty room. 

After the initial shock of presumably what Lance looked like, Keith was able to grasp what he was doing in the picture. Lance looked like he was making over enthusiastic hand gestures, and he seemed to have mussed up his hair. White block letters below his picture read “ALIENS.”

Keith couldn’t help but laugh when he figured out Lance was trying to imitate the old Ancient Aliens meme.

 **Lance:** Like what you see???

 **Keith:** did you just become a meme lance? or have you been one this whole time?

 **Lance:** I don’t know, but I think I found my true calling

 **Keith:** great,, i’ll be the one held responsible when the whole galaxy learns of memes

 **Lance:** All hail great Keith, bringer of the memes

 **Keith:** i’ll have you know it was not me who explained memes to you, that was my friend

 **Lance:** Oh really? Who is this fine friend of yours?

 **Keith:** her name’s pidge, blame her instead

 **Lance:** Oh so she’s a girl?

 **Keith:** yeah?

 **Lance:** Your girlfriend??

 **Keith:** what no

 **Keith:** you assume just because she’s a girl, she’s my girlfriend?!

 **Lance:** Just asking man, you know, making conversation

 **Lance:** So are you dating anyone?

Lance sounded like any horny teenager on the internet Keith met. It was strange how he totally wasn’t just any horny teenager, but an alien horny teenager. Who liked memes. Keith wasn’t sure whether to start hating him or find him endearing. 

**Keith:** you realize you’re sounding really thirsty, right?

 **Lance:** Well excuse me if literally everyone I’ve seen for months have been my older sister and my step-dad

It hit Keith that he’d forgotten about what Lance had said in his first letter. His whole planet was gone, except for him and his two family members. How lonely he must feel, traveling space for months on end, without interaction with anyone but them. He had more problems than Keith did. It wasn’t right for him to try and seek comfort from someone in a worse situation.

 **Keith:** hey i’m sorry for bothering you, you don’t have to try and deal with my problems, im sure you have a lot of your own to deal with

 **Lance:** Where is this coming from? You don’t bother me, I want to help you. I mean sure, I have problems too, but I need you. I need someone other than Allura and Coran to interact with, I mean I love them, but I need a break.

He wanted to help. He said it himself, but Keith was still having a hard time believing it.

 **Lance:** So hey you didn’t answer my question

 **Keith:** ??

 **Lance:** Single?

For fuck’s sake.

 **Keith:** yes

 **Keith:** happy?

 **Lance:** Very.

 **Lance:** But just a tip from a pro: if you wanna woo the ladies, you might want to ditch the mullet

 **Keith:** good thing I don’t want to woo any ladies

God, Lance was annoying. They’d only been talking for a short time and it was already enough to determine.

 **Lance:** Guys then?

 **Lance:** I would have included guys too, but sexuality seems to be a touchy subject with humans

Come out to a sketchy alien prince on over a space communication device? Not on Keith’s bucket list. However, the opportunity presented itself, and it was yet another thing he’s been keeping to himself. Mostly. Pidge may have found out through observation.

 **Keith:** yeah I’m gay

 **Lance:** Thats cool dude! On earth I think I would be considered bisexual, however back on Altea we didn’t have these terms. Love was just love, no need for words to express the differences or similarities in genders between relationships.

 **Keith:** that’s a really nice concept

 **Lance:** Yeah, it was.

Keith hoped he didn’t hit a sore spot there. He didn’t want to hurt Lance. Not like he ended up hurting anyone who tried to help him. Why did he think this would be different?

Keith yawned, the realization of how tired he was finally striking him.

 **Keith:** I think I’m going to try and go to sleep now

 **Keith:** thank you

 **Lance:** No problem, mullet. Anytime you need me, don’t hesitate to message okay?

 **Lance:** Goodnight to you and your cat!! I hope you get sleep!

 **Keith:** goodnight lance

Keith shut off the machine, feeling much different than he had when he’d turned it on that night. A weird-different, but not a bad-different.  
Keith was able to fall asleep and stay asleep, which to him was a blessing.


End file.
